Self Storage Services Inc., which operates 20 self-storage facilities in three states and Washington, D.C., is being sued for $1 million by a former facility manager. Jennifer Dandridge, who is black, claims she was racially discriminated against by being underpaid, fired and replaced by a less-qualified white man, according to the source. Dandridge filed the federal suit last week in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md.

According to the suit, Dandridge managed the company’s two Waldorf, Md., facilities for four years and worked for Self Storage Services for 16 years. She claims to have never received an unsatisfactory performance report and once won a company award for facility of the year. The two Waldorf facilities combined serve about 900 tenants, the source reported.

Dandridge also claims she was ordered to train her replacement before she was fired on July 16. She was the company’s only black manager at the time of her firing. Allegedly, others had previously been fired and replaced by non-blacks, according to the lawsuit.

While employed, Dandridge said she was paid less than other non-black managers and those who managed only one facility. She also alleges the company failed to pay the employer portion of her health-insurance premium from February through July. She is represented by attorney Jimmy A. Bell, according to the source.

Ron Kitzmiller, who now manages the Waldorf locations, told the source Self Storage Services would not comment on the suit.

The storage company operates six self-storage facilities in Florida, eight in Maryland, five in Virginia and one in Washington, D.C. It is headquartered in Rockville, Md.